Breech-closure mechanism



J. T. THOMPSON.

BREECH CLOSURE MECHANISM. APPLICATION man DE02. 1920.

1,425,809., Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

UNITED STATES:

PAT

JOHN Tamarmo TrroMrsoN, or NEWPORT, xENcrUcx'r, AssIeNon, BY nmncrm MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 AUTO-OBDNANCE OORPORATION, OF NEW YORK N. Y.,

CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

BnaEcH-cLosUnE MEcnANIsM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug 15, 1922.

' .application mea December 2, 1920. serial No. 427,992.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN TALIAFERROV THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Newport, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented new and useful Improvements in Breech-Closure Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to breech mechanism for automatic guns, more particularly for automatic guns embodying the Blish principle (U. S. patent to John Blish'1,l31, 319, granted March 9, 1915) or otherwise operating automatically in response to the breech pressure acting through the breech closure.

The principal object of the invention is to increase the rapidity of fire, to increase the smoothness of operation, and generally to improve the operation of guns of the class referred to.

To this end I propose to employ, in combination with a bolt or other breech closure reciprocatable or otherwise movable into vand out of breech closing position, a lock which, instead of reciprocating or oscillating back and forth along the same path between locked and unlocked positions, moves always in the same sense along an orbital or continuing or closed path, the movement of the lock being substantially continuous inasmuch as it only pauses momentarily, if at all, when in locking position. that is when imposition either to lock the closure positively or merely to restrain the closure from opening too suddenly.` The movement of the lock is rendered synchronous with that of the closure, preferably by means of a spring recurrently wound by the closure and tensioned to bring the lock into locking position as the bolt reaches firing position, the lock firing the gun as it reaches locking position.'

In order, clearly to disclose the nature of the invention I have illustrated one concrete embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1, is a longitudinal section through the breech mechanism of a gun, 0

Fig.` 2, is a section on line 2-2 of F 1g.

y 1, through the restraining means.

Fig. 3, is a section on line 3-3 of 1. Fig.v 4, is a section on line 4--4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

The particular gun chosen for the purpose of illustration has features in common with the guns illustrated in my co ending appllcations Sr. No. 427,891 and r. No. 427,- .893 filed on even date herewith; the present invention bein applicable to such guns, and I therefore ma e reference'to these applicatlons,

Referring to the illustration, in' the receiver, consisting of the two parts 1 and 2, 1s mounted for reciprocation the bolt or closure 3. In the closure is a bore 4, carry-V ing the firing pin 5. A recoil spring 6 provides the energy for forward propulsion of the closure. n the receiver part 1 is formed the upper half of a bearing 7, and in the lower part 2 is formed the lower half 8 of this bearing. The forwardV end of a shaft 9, is journaled in the bearing. In the bearing is provided a cylindrical seat 10 for a cylindrical block 1l. This block has a slot extending through it for a lug 12 and the seat in the bearing has therein an annular slot 13 to accommodate the lug when extended beyond the lower side of the block. The formationof the seat in the bearing divides it into two parts, aforward and a rear part, in both of which the shaft is journaled, and the block isrotatable on the shaft portion extending across the seat. The for ward part of the bearing has a cylindrical socket 14 to accommodate an annulus 15 projecting from the block 11. A spring 16 is riveted to the annulus and to the shaft forming a yielding connection between the annulus and the shaft. The lug has a slot 17 permitting reciprocation ofthe lug on the shaft and inthe block. The lug can thus be projected from either side of the block. The4 lug 12 is yieldingly held in either. position by spring actuated ball detents 38. On the projectable portions of the lug a cam-face` 18 is provided for contact with a cam face 19 formed on a transverse slot 20 in the closure 3. The receiver has a face 2l acting as a stop to axially align the lug with the closure and shoulders 22 to the rear ofthe lug, when it is rojected into the slot, whose combined width is equal to that of the closure face that contacts the lug. The lug has then approximately equal contact surfaces with the closure and the receiver to transmit the thrust forthe closure to the receiver,

aforesaid application Sr. No. 427,891.

The sleeve has on its inner circumference.y

a depending cam 29 which lits in a cam groove 30 in the shaft. This cam groove is helical and as shown is of a pitch to extend one-half the circumference for the operative length of the shaft. To hold the sleeve in the passage the forward annular wall 31,

contacting with it, is provided having an opening in it for the shaft that is smaller than the sleeve. The rear end is closed to the sleeve by a ring 32 secured to the extension. The ratchet teeth 27 on the sleeve extend in the direction shown so that the sleeve cannot rotate on the rearward movement of the closure but only on the forward movement. rearward movement, the shaft must turn during this movement on account of the helical groove and cam connection between the sleeve and shaft. 1

For the forward movement of the closure, a means is. rovided `to lock the shaft from rotation. his consists of a ratchet 33, ixedly secured to the shaft by a pin 34. This ratchet has teeth 35 extending in the same directions as those of the sleeve and a spring pressed pawl 36, pivotally mounted on the receiver, engages them. The result is that the pawl holds the shaft from any rotation for which there may be a tendency, due to the cam and groove connection, and this causes the sleeve to rotate in the direction in -which it is free to do so. Consequently there is no rotation of the shaft' during `the forward movement of the closure.

The bolt 3 may be held open by sear 46 cooperating with one of the notches 47 in the bolt, `the sear 'being controlled by trigger 48. Upon pulling'the trigger, with the bolt retracted, the sear releases ,the bolt, the recoil .spring 'advances the bolt, and the lock 12, which is urged against the side of the bolt by spring 16, is advanced to locking position by the spring and fires the piece. The bolt may'be manually retracted at any time by .pulling rearwardly upon the manual actuator (not shown) as described in o-ur If the inclination of face 18 is too slight to permit the lock 12 to be readily carried out of locking position by pulling the `bolt rearwardly, an impact upon the lower side,l

of the gun with the hand will instantly move the lock to inoperative position.

When the bolt 3 is in firing vposition one low value,

Since the sleeve cannot rotateon the end of the lug 12 engages the abutment 19 of the bolt along the face 18, as shown in Fig. 1.. Upon lirlng the breech pressure .urges the bolt rearwardl against the lug 12 which in turn transmits t e pressure to the receiver throughout the faces 40 (Figs. -1 and 2). Owing to the inclination of the abutting faces 19 and 18 the lug 12 is forced downwardly out of the path of the bolt permitting the bolt to recoil. By inclining the faces 19and 18 at the *criticaly angle disclosed in the aforesaid patent to Blish' the lock 12 does not move out ofi-locking lposition until the breech pressure decreases to a relatively After the bolt has recoiled it is returned to closed position by the recoil' spring 6.

While the bolt is returning the lock 12 is' rotated in a clockwise direction by spring 16 and as the bolt reaches firing position the lock moves 'in' behind the abutment 4, the spring 16 being tensioned to bring the lock into locking position the instant the bolt reaches closed position. As the lock moves into locking position the cam groove 60 advances the firing pin, as disclosed in my aforesaid application Sr. No. 427,891' and fires the gun. The lock and boltagain move synchronously out of and then into firing one lug being moved radially outwardly.

when its opposed lug is moved radially inwardly, but each lug must have a spring such as shown in my aforesaid application Sr. No. 427,893 for moving. it outwardly. The cam groove 30 is pitched to wind the spring the same angular extent each time the bolt reciprocates as the lock rotates between successive operative positions, i. e., 360o in a single lug lock, 180 in a double lug lock, 120 in a triple lug lock, etc.

As above stated the spring 16` is tensioned to move the lock synchronously with the bolt so that tli'e lock moves into locking position lwhen the bolt reaches closed position. However, if lfor any-reason the lock lags behind the. bolt, the onlyeffect is' a slight vdelay'in firing after the bolt reaches rmg position; and if the 4lock rotates too rapidly it strikes the side of the -bolt and is arrested .until thebolt is fully-advanced.

and an automatic breech closure movable` relative to the firing chamber into and out matic lock movable into and out of position l 4tion, and means actuated by the movement Vof said breech'closul'e for moving said lock to restrain the breech closure in said posisubstantially continuously when the n is in full automatic operation, in a continuing path, synchronously with-the, breech closure,

into and. outof position momentarily to restrain the breech closure in said position.l

2. A guncomprising a tiring chamber. and

an automatic breech closure movable relative to the firing chamber' into and out of position to close the chamber, an automatic lock 'movable into and out of position to 'restrain the breech closure in said position, and means actuated by the-movement of said breech closure for moving said lock substantially continuously when the'gun is in full automatic operation along an lendless path,.synchronously with the breech closure, into and -out of posit-ionmomentarily to restrain. the breech closure in said position.

3. A gun comprising a breech closure movable to and frol automatically inresponse to the breech pressure, a lock movable along an endless path intersecting the path of the breech closure, the closure and lock having abutments adapted to engage' each other as the lock crosses the path of the closure to restrain the closure in firing position, and means, responsive to the movement of said breech closurel for moving said lock substantially continuously when the gun is in full automatic operation in lsynchronism with the breech closure so that the -lock crosses the path of the closure as the closure reaches -firing position, thereby momentarily restraining the closure in firing position.

l 4. A gun comprising a breech closure mov- .able to and fro automatically in response to the breech pressure, a lock movable along an `endless path intersecting the path of the `breech closure, the closure Aand lock having abutments adapted to engage each other as the lock crosses the path of the closure to restrain the closure in firing position, and means for moving said lock substantially continuously when the gun is in full automatic operation in synchronism with the breech closure so that the. lock crosses the path of the closure as the closure reaches fir-- ing position, thereby momentarily restraining the closure in firing position, said means being kinematically connected with the closure to'receive its actuating energy from the movement of the closure.

5. A gun comprising a breech closure movable to and fro automatically in response to the breech pressure, a lock movable along an endless path intersecting the path of the breech closure, the closure and lock having abutments adapted to engage each other as the lock crosses the path of the closure to restrain the 'closure in firing position, 'and means for moving said lock substantially continuously when the gun is in [full automatic operation in synchronism crosses the path of the closure as the closure reaches firing position, thereby momentarily Irestraining the closure in firing position, said means including a spring for actuating the lock and mechanism actuated by the closure for winding the spring. f

6. A gun comprising a firing chamber and an automatic breech closure movable relative to the firing chamber into and out of position to-close the chamber, an automatic lockl rotatable into and out of position to restrain the breech closure in said position, and melans actuated by the movement of the breech closure for rotating said lock substantially continuously when the gun is in full automatic operation always in the same sense, synchronously with the breech closure, 'into and out of position momentarily no restrain the breech closure in said posilon.

7. A gun comprising a breech closure movable to and fro automatically in response Yto the breech pressure, a lock rotatable along a path intersecting the path of the breech closure, the closure and lock having abutments adapted to engage each other as the lock crosses the path of the closure to restrain the closure in firing position, and means actuated by the movement of the breech closure for rotating said lock substantially continuously when the gun is in full automatic operation in synchronism With the breech closure so that the lock crosses the path of the closure. as the closure reaches firing position, thereby momentarily restraining the closure in firing position.

8. A gun comprising a breech closure movable to 'and fro automatically in response to the breech pressure, a lock rotatable alon a path intersecting the path of the breech c osure, the closure and lock having abutments adapted to engagey each other as the lock crosses the path of the closure to restrain the closure in firing position, and means for rotating said lock substantially continuouslyvwhen the gun is in full automatic ,operation in synchronism with the breech closure so that the lock crosses the path of the closure as the closure reaches iiring position, thereby momentarily restraining the closure in firing position, said 'means being kinematically connected with the closure to receive its actuating energy from the movement of the closure.

9. A restraining mechanism for a breech e,closure movable in a receiver of a gun, comprising a member movable in a continuing path, and means operated by the breech closure on its rearward movement for moving said member into restraining position.

v10. A restraining mechanism for a breech,

with the breech closure so that the lock closure `movable forwardly and rearwardly in a receiver of a gun, comprising a member', means for moving said member in a continuing path into and out of restraining position, and a connection between said means and closure, operated by the breech closure on its rearward movement.

11. A restraining mechanism for a breech closure movable forwardly and rearwardly in a receiver of a gun, comprising a member, means for moving said member in a continuing path into and out of restraining posi.-

tion, a connection between said means and closure operated by the breech closure on its rearward movement, and means for preventing the operation of the connection on the forward movement of-.the closure.

12; A restraining mechanism for a breech closure movable forwardlyand rearwardly in a receiver of a gun, comprising a' member, 'means ,for moving said member in a continuing path into and out of restraining position, said means including a connection with the closure operated by the closure on its rearward movement, and ratchet means ber, and yielding meansfor moving said` member in a continuing path into and out of a restraining position, said means including a shaft operated by the closure on'its rearward movement. l

15. A restraining mechanism for a breech closure movable forwardly and rearwardly in a receiver of a gun, comprising a member, a shaft mounted for rotation in the receiver and connected to said member, a ratchet on thev closure and a helical cam and groove connection between the'ratchet and the shaft for operating the shaft on the rearward 4 movement of the closure.

16. A restraining mechanism for a breech closure movable forwardly and rearwardly of a gun, comprising a member, a shaft mounted for rotation in the receiver, a

yielding connection between the member4 and the shaft, a ratchet on the closure and` ber, a shaft mounted for rotation inv said re.

ceiver and connected to the member, a ratchet on the closure, a helical connection between the ratchet and the'shaft for operating the shaft on the rearward movement on the closure, and a second ratchetmounted in the receiver for preventing rotation of the shaft on the forward lmovement of the closure.

18. A restraining mechanism for a breech closure movable in a receiver of a gun, comprising a member, and means for movi said member in a continuing path into an out of restraining position, said means in'- cluding a yielding connection between the member and the closure, operated by the closure .on its rearward movement, and an abutment for`aligning said member and closure when in restraining position. y 19. A restraining mechanism for a breech closure movable forwardly and 'rearwardly in a receiver of a gun, comprising a mem` ber movable in a continuing path, a connection between the member and closure, said vconnection including a spring, anda means operable by said closure on its rearward movement for placing said spring under tension.

20. A restraining mechanism closure movable forwardly and rearwardly inv a receiver of a gun, comprising a member, movable in a continuing path, a spring connected to the member, means associating the spring and the closure for placing the spring under tension on the rearward movement of said closure, and means for maintaining the member out of restraining position until the closure is in forward position.

21. A restraining mechanism for a breech closure movable forwardly and rearwardly in a receiver of a gun, comprising a mem-l for a breech I ber movable in a continuing path, a spring connected to the member, means associating the spring and the closure for placing the spring under tension on. the rearward movement of the closure, means for maintaining the closure is in forward position, and an abutment for aligning the closure and member when in a restraining position.

Signed by me at New Canaan, Connecticut this 30th day of November 1920.

JOHN TALIAFERRO THOMPSON.

`the member out of restraining position until 

